Ukiah Community Center enjoying fruits of consolidation

A few years ago the board of directors at the Ford Street Project, including the Buddy Eller Center, and the Ukiah Community Center, including the Food Bank, realized it would be in the best interest of all to integrate. On January 1, 2010, the agencies consolidated and created one executive director, one board and one fiscal department. Jacque Williams, a former Food Bank board member and retired Hewlett Packard executive had thrown her hat into the ring and became the executive director of both oversight agencies.

Williams explains, "I was on the board of the Food Bank and many of us were of a like mind in realizing that instead of trying to maintain these individual entities, it was time to downsize. People on both boards knew we needed to change; it was a natural progression."

"Ford Street includes alcohol and drug rehabilitation and transitional housing for families; Buddy Eller is a homeless center and provides transitional housing for individuals; Ukiah Community Center (UCC) is a homeless resource provider and the Food Bank, of course, provides food. In order to maximize our efforts and since we were serving the same people, it made sense for the agencies to consolidate. Now we are a great deal more efficient."

Once the merger was complete they were ready to focus on rebuilding. In 2010 they were the recipients of a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) to rehabilitate the UCC/Food Bank building. Craig Schlatter of the Community Development Commission managed the project and the construction contract was let out to Fort Bragg Electric, Inc.

Today the building boasts photovoltaic panels installed on its new roof for solar energy efficiency and a rainwater harvest system consisting of two newly installed 20,000-gallon water tanks to feed the fresh organic garden on the premises. Bob Schlosser, a green, innovative architect oversaw the design of these systems.

"Mr. Schlosser saw the potential of the roof and added the rainwater collection component. That old '60s cinderblock building is now probably one of the greenest commercial properties in Ukiah," says Williams proudly.

"The immediate result of the solar panels for the UCC/Food Bank is that our utilities almost went away. We turned the solar on last year in December; we spent $9,600 on utilities in 2011 and this year we will spend $1,800. We knew we would be better off but could not imagine how truly better off we would be."

As part of the project they realized there was the potential to generate more power than they needed. There was discussion with the city on how this could be managed and the fact that selling the excess power to the city would create of lot of unnecessary record keeping and bureaucracy.

The city offered them $75,000 to complete the American Disabilities Act (ADA) for improvements that were not covered by the CDBG grant. In exchange UCC/Food Bank gave the city, forevermore, any excess power generated from their solar arrays.

The sidewalk had been too narrow and uneven for wheelchairs and strollers and the whole parking area was repaved; old heavy doors that made access difficult were replaced with new modern doors, far less cumbersome; and bathrooms were brought up to new ADA standards.

"The water tanks will fill with winter rains and our rainwater system running along the fence will allow us to connect with drip mist systems. Miles Gordon from the NCO Garden's Project will be working with us in redesigning the efficient use of water and the expanded garden site. People living in transitional housing will be asked to volunteer. We are investing in what is sustainable as we will always need to have a food bank here in Ukiah," says Williams.

"Our future, or where we believe we are heading, is to invest in vocational rehabilitation. One of the things I have witnessed is even if people are able to overcome their problems of alcoholism, drug addiction and homelessness, they need to have meaningful activity or work in their lives unless they become stuck. We are looking at how we can provide exactly that?clean and sober living, a home, and meaningful work."